Legislative Update March 2009
Posted March 20, 2009
LEGISLATIVE SESSION REACHES HALF-WAY POINT
Unicameral Update
March 20, 2009
Wednesday marked the 45th legislative day and we have officially entered the second half of the session. Committee hearings will be completed by the end of next week, and Senators will now gear up for full-day debate. The 16 freshmen members are finding their way and the process has been running rather smoothly thus far. Last Thursday marked the deadline for Senator and Committee priority bills. The Speaker released his list of 25 Speaker priority bills on Tuesday.
The state’s biennial budget as well as revenue, education, at-risk children’s services, the death penalty and water rights will be the primary focus for the rest of the session. Notwithstanding a number of noncontroversial “Consent Calendar” type legislation, bills that remain in committee and have not been selected as a priority have little chance of passage this year. However, because this is the first year of a two-year session cycle, when a bill remains in committee or on the floor and is not indefinitely postponed, it will carry-over to next year.
The budget must be presented to the full Legislature by the 70th legislative day (April 29th). The preliminary biennial budget was set at just over $7.2 billion. As of right now, the budget and its major drivers (education and Medicaid) are the subjects of many conversations due to the potential of the federal stimulus money tempered by the bleak revenue projections for the rest of the year. We must also note that Nebraska still has over $550 million in the official reserve fund. However, even with this good news, it will be unlikely that many of the proposals seeking general fund dollars will gain approval.
As the session progresses we will work to keep clients informed of any developments on issues of interest. Things can start happening very quickly, especially as the session gets closer to the end. As always, we are just a phone call or email away. You can also access legislation, amendments, and other information via the Unicameral’s web site at: http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov.
